As Christians, we do not have the luxury of assigning all evil to one ideology. As long as we identify evil by what our opposition believes, our God is subject to our personal politics.
He Saw That It Was Good p. 62
My side good, your side bad is so anti-gospel and yet so pervasive in the church. And it’s not just in terms of politics. We draw tight denominational lines and hard lines in music and conference speakers and who one quotes. Guilt by association is neither loving nor good logic. Notice the similarities between these three arguments.
My friend was part of a church that said homosexuality was a sin.
My friend abandoned the faith.
Therefore churches that teach that homosexuality is a sin cause people to abandon the faith.
Therefore churches that teach that homosexuality is a sin are bad.
Musician A was a Calvinist.
Musician A abandoned the faith.
Therefore Calvinism leads people to abandon the faith.
Therefore Calvinism is bad.
My friend was part of a Master Gardener class.
My friend abandoned gardening.
Therefore Master Gardener classes cause people to abandon gardening.
Therefore Master Gardener classes are bad.
Each of these examples demonstrate bad logic and bad theology, particularly concerning the nature of man. That’s not to say we don’t guard against false teaching. But giving an example of one person’s response to a teaching and then condemning the whole doctrine or philosophical worldview or denomination or garden club is not how we are to apply the wisdom of the Bible to our friends and neighbors.
Lingering Over Leaves 